More heat for basketball fans as Suns in town

Current and former Phoenix Suns players are in town to add more heat and excitement to Shanghai basketball fans’ hot summer.

It has been years since an NBA team had sent players on a China tour.

On Saturday afternoon, Suns’ Bosnian center Jusuf Nurkic, former shooting guard Rex Chapman, former player Cedric Ceballos and the team’s general manager James Jones showed up at Shanghai Indoor Stadium for a fan fest with local followers.

They watched the fan’s dunk competition and served as judges before teaming up with selected fans to take part in shooting challenges.

A local artist created sand paintings tailored for the players as gifts, and was invited by the team to perform sand painting during the Suns game intervals next season.

James Jones has visited Shanghai three times, though his last trip dates back 12 years ago. He played for the Suns in the NBA China Game.

“A lot has changed in 12 years, but the delicious food and nice people remain the same,” he said.

“The 2012 NBA China Game was an amazing experience not only for the players and fans, but everyone involved. We want to come to places that fans want us to be. So hopefully we’ll have a chance to come back for a game in the future.”

Jusuf Nurkic was on his first visit to Shanghai. Seeing the number of youngsters getting involved in sports in Shanghai despite the heat, Nurkic offered his encouragement.

“The kids these days love to try different sports, which is good,” he said. “The grassroot building is important. Kids play and learn together from sports, which is as important as other education.”

Cedric Ceballos, who was the champion of the 1992 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, added: “The wonderful thing about basketball, especially when they start from a young age, is that you get to learn to become cooperative and work with teammates”.

“You learn not only how to win, but also how to lose.”

After the Shanghai stop, the Suns players will also visit Macau and Hong Kong to interact with local fans.